Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine today highlighted ongoing efforts to expand testing across Pennsylvania to ensure that every Pennsylvanian who wants a test can get one.

If we want to mitigate the spread of this very contagious virus, we must continue to understand how its impacting Pennsylvania. Most importantly, improving access to testing helps Pennsylvanians who want and need to test for COVID-19, Gov. Wolf said. Testing also provides us with critical data to understand where the disease is in our communities so that we can take the necessary proactive measures to stop the spread and continue to protect the public.

The Wolf Administration continues to work to further increase testing in Pennsylvania. This includes partnerships in place with Walmart and Quest Diagnostics, which provide direct access in many communities, including rural areas.

The administration also continues to work with laboratories across the state in order to enhance testing capacity in Pennsylvania, particularly as we see significant national delays in receiving test results due to other states experiencing major case increases.

In Pennsylvania, we are committed to ensuring that testing is accessible, available and adaptable, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. Through working with our partners, including Walmart and Quest Diagnostics, we are helping to ensure that anyone who needs to get tested for COVID-19 in Pennsylvania can get tested. Testing, along with wearing a mask, washing your hands, maintaining social distancing and contact tracing are essential tools to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania.

Nine drive-thru Walmart testing sites launched on Aug. 5. These nine new sites are in addition to existing Walmart drive-thru sites in Clarion, State College, New Castle and Edinboro.

Walmart is happy to assist Governor Wolf with reliable timely COVID-19 tests via a convenient drive thru, said Jamie Reilly, Walmart regional health and wellness director.

Pennsylvania has conducted the ninth highest total number of tests for COVID-19 in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1.6 million tests have been completed, which equates to 13 percent of the Pennsylvania population.

At the height of the first wave in April, statewide testing capacity was limited to under 8,000 tests per day. Pennsylvania is now averaging more than 22,000 test results per day, as of Saturday, Aug. 1, and is testing about 4 percent of the population each month.

The most updated testing sites and information is available at the Department of Health. Testing sites continue to be added.

For the updated commonwealth map of testing sites, visit Pennsylvania COVID-19 Viral Testing Sites.

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Wolf Administration Highlights Increased Efforts to Expand COVID-19 Testing Availability - pa.gov